He was powerless because he had no precise desire, and this tortured him because he was vainly seeking something to desire. He could not even make himself stretch out his hand to switch on the light. The simple transition from intention to action seemed an unimaginable miracle.

Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin?

Readers are not sheep, and not every pen tempts them.

Look at this tangle of thorns.

I do not begin my novel at the beginning, I do not reach chapter three before I reach chapter four, I do not go dutifully from one page to the next, in consecutive order; no, I pick out a bit here and a bit there, till I have filled all the gaps on paper. This is why I like writing my stories and novels on index cards, numbering them later when the whole set is complete. Every card is rewritten many times.

A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist.

A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to fit the world of the reader.